Laravel 8 Multiple Images Upload with Validation Example

In this tutorial, I will share with you how to upload multiple files or images with validation in Laravel 8. Also, to store images in the storage and images path in the MySQL database.

If you want to know how to build a functionality to upload multiple files or images at once in Laravel, then you are at the right place.

Table of Contents

1. Multiple Image Upload in Laravel 7|8 Example
2. Create Project
3. Database Configuration
4. Create Model and Migrations
5. Create Controller
6. Create Routes
7. Create Blade File

Multiple Image Upload in Laravel 8|7 Example

Multiple file uploading is a simple process of uploading more than one image at the same time. A user select files using the HTML file input field and upload multiple files/images in the storage.

Laravel makes these multiple image uploading easy, and it also offers inbuilt methods to apply the file and image validation easily.

I will shed light on the request and file object to upload files and create a new database and images table for file uploading images. Will also share how to show a preview of multiple images before uploading them to the server. I will take the help of Bootstrap 4 and jQuery to create an image uploading form and image preview.

Check out our detailed article on Building Laravel CRUD Web Application.

Create a Laravel Project

Run the following command to create a Laravel project.

composer create-project laravel/laravel --prefer-dist laravel-image-upload

Bash

Get the project folder.

cd laravel-image-upload

Bash

Define Database Configuration

We can either use MAMP or XAMPP to set up a local web server. Define your database configuration in .env file.

DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=localhost
DB_PORT=3306
DB_DATABASE=laravel_db
DB_USERNAME=root
DB_PASSWORD=

PL/SQL

Create Model and Migrations

Create a Model and Migration using the following command.

php artisan make:model Image -m

Bash

Place the below code in database/migrations/timestamp_create_images_table file to define the table schema.

<?php

use Illuminate\Database\Migrations\Migration;
use Illuminate\Database\Schema\Blueprint;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Schema;

class CreateImagesTable extends Migration
{
    /**
     * Run the migrations.
     *
     * @return void
     */
    public function up()
    {
        Schema::create('images', function (Blueprint $table) {
            $table->id();
            $table->string('name')->nullable();
            $table->string('image_path')->nullable();
            $table->timestamps();
        });
    }

    /**
     * Reverse the migrations.
     *
     * @return void
     */
    public function down()
    {
        Schema::dropIfExists('images');
    }
}

PHP

Place the below code inside the app/Models/Image.php file.

<?php

namespace App\Models;

use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Factories\HasFactory;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;

class Image extends Model
{
    use HasFactory;
    protected $fillable = [
        'name',
        'image_path'
    ];

}

PHP

Next, execute the command to run the migration, migration can be seen in your PHPMyAdmin panel or the database.

php artisan migrate

Bash

Create Image Uploading Controller

Run the command to generate the image uploading controller.

php artisan make:controller PhotosController

Bash

Go to app/Http/Controllers/FileUpload.php file, and define the createForm() and fileUpload() methods to manage the image uploading in Laravel 7|8.

<?php

namespace App\Http\Controllers;

use Illuminate\Http\Request;
use App\Models\Image;

class PhotosController extends Controller
{
  public function view(){
    return view('photos');
  }


  public function store(Request $req){
    $req->validate([
      'imageFile' => 'required',
      'imageFile.*' => 'mimes:jpeg,jpg,png,gif,csv,txt,pdf|max:2048'
    ]);

    if($req->hasfile('imageFile')) {
        foreach($req->file('imageFile') as $file)
        {
            $name = $file->getClientOriginalName();
            $file->move(public_path().'/uploads/', $name);  
            $imgData[] = $name;  
        }

        $fileModal = new Image();
        $fileModal->name = json_encode($imgData);
        $fileModal->image_path = json_encode($imgData);
        
       
        $fileModal->save();

       return back()->with('success', 'File has successfully uploaded!');
    }
  }
}

PHP

The createForm() function brings the from in the view, and the the fileUpload() method handles uploading, storing, and validation in the image uploading controller.

This controller also covered:

• Validation on image uploading.
• Displays image uploading status through message update.
• Allows specific file types. e.g. jpeg, jpg, png, gif, csv, txt, and pdf.
• Apply file size limitation upto 2MB max.
• Storing images in the Laravel storage and uploaded images path in the database.

Create Routes in Laravel

Go to routes/web.php and create two routes. One for image uploading form with get method and another route for image uploading with post method.

<?php

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Route;
use App\Http\Controllers\FileUpload;

/*
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Web Routes
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
| Here is where you can register web routes for your application. These
| routes are loaded by the RouteServiceProvider within a group which
| contains the "web" middleware group. Now create something great!
|
*/

Route::get('photos','App\Http\Controllers\PhotosController@view')->name('photos');
Route::post('photos/store','App\Http\Controllers\PhotosController@store')->name('photos/store');

PHP

Create Blade Template

For uploading multiple images we need a view. Create resources\views\photos.blade.php file and add the following code.

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">

<head>
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1, shrink-to-fit=no">
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://stackpath.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/4.5.0/css/bootstrap.min.css">

    <title>Laravel Image Upload</title>
    <style>
        .container {
            max-width: 500px;
        }
        dl, ol, ul {
            margin: 0;
            padding: 0;
            list-style: none;
        }
        .imgPreview img {
            padding: 8px;
            max-width: 100px;
        } 
    </style>
</head>

<body>

    <div class="container mt-5">
        <h3 class="text-center mb-5">Image Upload in Laravel</h3>
        <form action="{{route('photos/store')}}" method="post" enctype="multipart/form-data">
            @csrf
            @if ($message = Session::get('success'))
                <div class="alert alert-success">
                    <strong>{{ $message }}</strong>
                </div>
            @endif

            @if (count($errors) > 0)
                <div class="alert alert-danger">
                    <ul>
                        @foreach ($errors->all() as $error)
                        <li>{{ $error }}</li>
                        @endforeach
                    </ul>
                </div>
            @endif

            <div class="user-image mb-3 text-center">
                <div class="imgPreview"> </div>
            </div>            

            <div class="custom-file">
                <input type="file" name="imageFile[]" class="custom-file-input" id="images" multiple="multiple">
                <label class="custom-file-label" for="images">Choose image</label>
            </div>

            <button type="submit" name="submit" class="btn btn-primary btn-block mt-4">
                Upload Images
            </button>
        </form>
    </div>
  
    <!-- jQuery -->
    <script src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-3.5.1.slim.min.js"></script>
    <script>
        $(function() {
        // Multiple images preview with JavaScript
        var multiImgPreview = function(input, imgPreviewPlaceholder) {

            if (input.files) {
                var filesAmount = input.files.length;

                for (i = 0; i < filesAmount; i++) {
                    var reader = new FileReader();

                    reader.onload = function(event) {
                        $($.parseHTML('<img>')).attr('src', event.target.result).appendTo(imgPreviewPlaceholder);
                    }

                    reader.readAsDataURL(input.files[i]);
                }
            }

        };

        $('#images').on('change', function() {
            multiImgPreview(this, 'div.imgPreview');
        });
        });    
    </script>
</body>
</html>

PHP

Start The Application

We have created the view now let us start the application using the following command.

php artisan serve

Bash

Check the application on below link:

http://127.0.0.1:8000/photos

Finally, we have completed the Laravel Images and File uploading tutorial, i hope you will like this tutorial.